Nowadays, many teenagers are falling into the trap of addiction to drugs long before they even know it. Others find their way into crime and prostitution as well as other wild exploits. Despite the increased drugs awareness and rehabilitation courses and all those guiding and counseling sessions now available in counseling institutions, the rate of drug abuse and other vices among the youth is increasing greatly by the day.

When one is growing up, he/she seeks to have friends. The youth love associating and sharing their life’s experiences with each other. In the process they do whatever they can to impress their friends in order to be accepted. It is during this vulnerable stage that they are easily enticed and lured into taking drugs like cocaine and heroine.

A young person will usually seek to identify with a particular group that he admires or would like the company of. He wishes to be recognized and accepted into the group as one of the group members. Thus he can easily fall under negative peer pressure in a bid to prove himself worthy of their friendship.

While one is under pressure to please, he/she is usually unable to think soberly and may fall prey to negative peer pressure, only to come and regret much later. Instead, one ought to be self driven, strong willed and personally responsible for their own decisions and actions.

My strong advice to the youth would be; better suppress your curiosity than suffer the pain of addiction. This is the most convenient way of avoiding negative peer pressure since it is harder to shed off friendship and addiction than it is to resist the temptation to join or try.